I walked away from a corporate job a few months back. I was wise enough to build up quite a large nest egg before I quit, and now I'm slowly building up a salary based on a variety of jobs doing what I WANT to do! Follow me on my journey.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Eternal Dumbnations

I'm going to take a momentary departure from my usual YOU CAN DO IT attitude to make one little whiny post.

In general, i like the idea of crowdsourcing, but because one of my goals is to make a living as a writer, I am a little annoyed with it. The problem is, any dumbass can (and many dumbasses do) become writers for many of these crowdsource outlets. The outlets don't check facts and admit they don't and assume no responsibility for misinformation. Many of them don't even really check the quality of the writing. Worst of all, none of them pay SQUAT!

Everyone behind a computer screen THINKS they have writing skills. Perhaps I am guilty of this. I like to think I do have a gift for providing entertaining, engaging prose, but maybe I'm kidding myself. Maybe I'm part of the problem since I'm obviously not part of the solution. Anyway, assuming I DO have some semblance of writing skills and that they're above average, it seems like a talent that is being exponentially devalued by the aforementioned factors.

"Paid" positions are usually through ad revenue sharing, impossible pay per click standards, or painfully low flat fees. I'm doing my best to throw my work in as many places as possible, but none of them have provided enough money to survive for even a day. Perhaps it's all just the "paying dues" phase of writing or perhaps it's just a skill that is becoming evermore obsolete.

I'll still continue to write. I'll always write even if it doesn't pay because it's something I love to do and if I don't do it for a while, I go through withdrawals. However, for the moment, it's frustrating.

Are you a similarly frustrated writer?
Are you a successful writer?
Share your experiences.